


In Another Life

by GlitterCake20



Series: This is where your heart breaks. [1]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Angst, Fluff, M/M, Prom, Student Liam, Tattoos, They are so fucking in love, Thiam AU, Time hop, artist theo, choose your ending, dance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-18
Updated: 2018-01-18
Packaged: 2019-03-06 10:40:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,311
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13409517
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GlitterCake20/pseuds/GlitterCake20
Summary: I have written two endings for the reader to choose from - My initial planned ending and an alternate happy ending.Hope you enjoy. Kudos and comments are always appreciated.Any mistakes are my own, please let me know so it can be corrected.





	1. We'd make out in your Mustang...

**Author's Note:**

> I have written two endings for the reader to choose from - My initial planned ending and an alternate happy ending. 
> 
> Hope you enjoy. Kudos and comments are always appreciated.
> 
> Any mistakes are my own, please let me know so it can be corrected.

It was the summer after Theo finished high school that he first laid eyes on the boy.

Theo stood against his black mustang outside the diner, puffing on a cigarette. His friends were being as loud and obnoxious as they always were. Stilinski tossed a rock at Scott and they chased each other around the parking lot. He was waiting anxiously for him to come out of the diner.

“There he is!” Malia shouted her mouth still full of Kira’s tongue.

Theo jumped forward killing the smoke on the ground and ran after him.

“Hey! Hey, fancy face, wait up!”

And he was just that, spikey blonde hair, angled in just the right direction, sparkling blue eyes and ridiculously long lashes, a jaw so sharp it could slice you open. What a sight.

The boy’s friend pushed him towards Theo and he rolled his eyes stopping with protest and sighed dramatically.

“What?”

“How you doing?”

“I told you- you’re too old for me”

“Fancy face, it's two years…”

“It's illegal. And my name is Liam”

“Oh come on! I don’t wanna get you pregnant, I just wanna take you on a date. Please… Liam?”

____

A year passed since that day and they were lazing around Theo’s scruffy apartment, a Johnny Cash record played in the background and Liam was draped over pillows in the corner working on his assignment. Theo was sketching something on a huge canvas with a thin stick of charcoal, smearing it with his fingers every now and again. Liam made a funny face at Theo when he caught him staring and they both giggled. Theo swung the canvas around. The young boy gasped as he got up, staring at the sketch of his face, shadows beautifully captured, accentuating every angle.

“This is amazing! You should hang it!”

“This? You? Hang it up in my apartment? Nah,” he swooped Liam up “you’re too beautiful for this scruffy place fancy face”

______

It was one of those sixties decade parties and Liam had insisted they go as Sonny and Cher, joking that Theo’s hair was long enough to pass as Cher, Theo argued with kisses and tickles. He later drew a fake moustache on Liam’s upper lip with his charcoal pencil and complimented him on his Mick Jagger ensemble. Liam giggled as he watched Theo strut around in his American flag bell bottoms and sleeveless Beatles t-shirt. Theo pushed him onto the couch and took silly polaroids of him, hundreds maybe, the pictures showered over Liam as they ejected from the camera. Theo remembers the way Liam laughed from his belly, how free and happy and young he looked.

______

It was finally time for Liam’s senior prom. Liam got ready at Theo’s apartment, -which was really _their_ apartment now, despite his mother’s protests. Liam was so excited, he danced around the small living room as he got dressed, taking sips of liquor from a small flask. Theo helped him with his tie but instead of tying it he wiggled it around leaving it to hang loose around Liam’s neck, he ruffled his now long hair until it was a poetic mess and he helped Liam into his black leather jacket as opposed to his suit and they took off. They were already buzzed by the time they reached the high school, giggling and clinging to each other, kissing sloppily against the lockers until they were ushered into the hall by angry teachers.

Tommy James’ Crimson and Clover started playing and they swayed closer to one another, Theo’s nose brushed against Liam’s and he slipped his hands in Theo’s back pockets as they moved slowly to the beat of the music. Theo breathed into Liam’s hair kissing his ear.

“I love you. So much”

“More than anything”

“Happy prom, Fancy Face”

They were later caught drinking and ran out of the hall with their friends laughing, holding hands, dodging Mrs. Martin as they made their way to Theo’s black mustang.

________

That same night they painted the town red with their friends, they stopped, first at a milkshake bar, then a karaoke gig and lastly tattoo parlor. Theo pulled Liam inside showing him all the designs but Liam pulled out a pen and tore a piece of paper out of the counter book. He drew one side of a heart with a clichéd arrow poking through it, a tiny “T” on the tip of the arrow. He tore another piece of paper from the book, much to the annoyance of the shop assistant. On the second paper he drew the other side of the heart and the back end of the arrow with an “L” on it, for dramatic effect he added two drops of 'blood' on each paper. Theo frowned at him but Liam held the papers together making a full picture, and it was beautiful.

Theo held Liam’s hand while he got his sketch inked into his forearm, their eyes never leaving the other’s. Liam in turn held Theo’s hand but giggled as he cussed at the artist, complaining about the pain.

They fell asleep in Theo’s car on the lookout point by the preserve and if anyone had asked why the windows were steamed up they would have blamed it on the rumored supernatural presence in Beacon Hills.

____

Theo had gotten invitations to exhibit his art at various galleries around the city and he was busier than he had ever been, he painted into the early hours of the morning, hardly ever going to bed while Liam was still sleeping. Liam missed him, he knew this and he felt guilty for neglecting him, but this could be his big break, this could be the start of a new life for them. He thought back to the shiny diamond studded band Liam had cooed over in the jeweler's window a few months earlier.

He was working on a large charcoal piece one night- white wolves in a forest of fire, running from hunters clad with bows and arrows, it was truly stunning, intricately detailed. Liam had tried a few times to get Theo’s attention only to be shut down. The last attempt being particularly embarrassing as he fiddled with the string of Theo’s sweat pants only to be pushed away. The boy always did have problems controlling his temper and that night it was evident in the way thick streaks of red, red paint ran down Theo’s drawing, bleeding into the charcoal.

There was shoving and screaming and crying and begging but it still ended with Theo walking out with his duffle bag over one shoulder, guitar over the other, lighting a smoke on the way down the stairs while Liam sat slumped against the kitchen counter.

Theo never was sure why he didn’t go back that night. The next morning the apartment was empty and cold, Liam nowhere in sight. His drawers were empty and his toiletries gone, the only thing left of him was the charcoal sketch of his face hanging by the window. Theo tore it down and tossed it behind the fridge, ignoring the painful lurch of his heart as the sheet of paper fluttered to the floor.

(If you choose to read the initial ending please move on to Chapter 2.

If you choose to read the happy ending please skip to Chapter 3.

OR read both! :) Please check warnings for Chapter 2 before reading tho.)


	2. I should have told you...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Major character death.  
> Not extremely descriptive but mentions of death.

Some said he swerved to miss the boulders in the middle of the road. Others said he fell asleep behind the wheel. Either way the car was found on its roof at the bottom of the lookout point. Apparently Liam was still clutching a sleeveless Beatles t-shirt when they found him, his cheeks stained with blood and tears alike. Reports said he died instantly, head trauma.

If Liam was there he would have argued that it was heart trauma that lead to his demise instead.

Ten years isn’t that long but when you are missing a part of your soul it can feel like an eternity. On the anniversary of Liam’s death Theo stood against the black mustang in front of the rebuilt barrier, looking out over the preserve as the sun set behind the trees, like he had done with Liam so many times.

He thought about the last night they laid curled up in each other’s arms, Liam’s body warm against his own, before life got the better of them. Liam’s bright toothy grin flashing into is mind- ten years hadn’t stopped the regret burning in his chest.

Theo blinked away tears and pushed himself from the car, walking over to the barrier. He flicked the bud of his cigarette over the edge watching as it hit a rock, sending golden sparks falling down with it. He pressed his palms into the barrier, his head hung low between his shoulders. He looked at his half of the heart tattoo on his forearm, the “L” slightly squiggly from when he tried to pull away.

The black ink was now his only reminder that it was all real. He remembers exactly where Liam’s hands curled around his arm to keep him still…he swore he could still feel them there.

_____

The afterlife was nothing like the real world, one would imagine it as cold, dark and lonely but  to Liam it was always sunny and warm, peaceful. He guessed it was what you made of it. He got to see Theo every day, he got to watch him sleep and paint, and sip his early morning coffee, he was even lucky enough to witness a smile every now and again, mostly when Crimson and Clover played while he drew in his favorite spot- next to the framed sketch of Liam. The sketch was now slightly faded and dusty from its long stay behind the fridge.

Liam stood by Theo’s side, his hand ghosting down his forearm, placing his own arm next Theo’s, completing the heart. Liam wished he could touch him, he wished he could wipe the tears and tell him that he was there and that even in the afterlife, he missed him more than words could ever explain.

_____

Theo sighed, stuffing his hands into his pockets, the goosebumps on his right arm told him it was time to get home before it got any colder. He took another look at the sunset.

“In another life fancy face.”


	3. Us against the world

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The alternative happy ending

He almost immediately picked the drawing back up, smoothing it over with his hands, stripping off another piece of tape to stick it back in its rightful place. Something that beautiful should never be hidden. Guilt rushed over Theo as he collected his car keys, rushing out of the door without locking it behind him, his only priority was finding Liam and kissing him until he knew how stupidly sorry he was for ever making him think he was anything less than the sun, the moon and every single star in the sky.

He drove around for hours but still Liam was nowhere to be found. He finally headed out to the lookout point just before noon, and there the boy sat brooding on the barrier, Theo’s sleeveless Beatels top draped over his shoulder, cigarette clamped awkwardly between two fingers.

“You smoke now?”

“Maybe”

“It’s really bad for you, you know”

Theo rested on the barriers with his elbows, he looked up just in time to see the silent snort before Liam turned his head away.

“Come home”

“So you can ignore me some more?”

“Come on, I have something to show you”

As stubborn as Liam was, he was never able to contain his excitement when it came to surprises, when he hesitated a tad too long Theo scooped him up and placed him down in front of his car, planting a kiss on the top of his head.

“Follow me”

The boys pulled out of the lookout point, the old blue Bronco chasing the Mustang’s tail all the way up the winding road leading out of the preserve, barely keeping up. Liam could see Theo’s eyes narrow with laughter in the rearview mirrors as he sped up.

Theo led them to a small shop on the corner of the main street and they parked the cars on the side of the road. Theo jumped out quickly, jogging to open Liam’s door, the gesture both surprised and made Liam giggle. Theo was buzzing with excitement, a strange but interesting alternative to his usual cool and collected demeanor. Liam took the hand that was extended to him and allowed himself to be pulled out of the car, only just managing to slam the door behind him.

They reached the door of the shop and Theo allowed Liam to enter first. Liam stood silent and in awe of all the beautiful brochures of foreign places, some with high walls, some with endless greenery, others had people wandering around old ruins and caves. Liam didn’t know why exactly he was staring at it, but he didn’t mind. Theo spoke softly from behind him, his arms wrapping around his waist, his chin resting on Liam’s shoulder.

“Pick one”

“Huh?”

“Pick any one you like”

Theo’s smile was warm against Liam’s neck. Liam’s eyes darted over the middle shelf until he found the one that caught his attention earlier. On the cover of the small book were a collection of tiny white buildings clustered on a hill-top, flowing into beautiful shades of blue ocean, tiny little boats scattered on the shore line below.

“This one!”

“Mykonos?”

“Yeah, but I mean what is this? What are we doing with a brochure of Greece?”

“Well, I figured if I was going to put this beautiful ring on your finger I may as well do it in a beautiful place”

“More beautiful than you?”

“Maybe in another life, Fancy Face”


End file.
